Families and communities should be strong and free from government intrusion

Institution of traditional marriage is the foundation of society

Government should be smaller, smarter and more efficient

Health care decisions should be made by us and our doctors

Paychecks should not be wasted on poorly run government programs

Military must be strong and prepared to defend our shores

Culture should respect and protect life

Children should never be left in failing schools

Veterans should have the best care and opportunities in the world

Social programs should help lift people out of poverty

America should be energy independent

These are the things that the Republican candidates should be talking about, and how they compare and contrast to the Democrat Party’s way of doing things. We should be talking about how we believe our way is better, and why, and demonstrating how these ideals have a proven track record of success. We should be talking about how the Democrat Party’s way is a way of deficiency, and demonstrating how their ideals have a proven track record of failure.

Saw this over on Reaganite Republican Resistance and knew it was too good to pass up. Mrs. Thatcher is an amazing woman, and I have been fortunate to live during the time she was Prime Minister of England. Thank you, Mrs. Thatcher!

Special Editorial: Repeal

A one-word agenda for Republicans.

The editors of National Review sensibly counsel conservatives, in the wake of last night’s victory for Obamacare: “‘Nil desperandum’–never despair.” I agree, though I’m more inclined to the mock-Latin motto of the Harvard band: “Illegitimi non carborundum”–don’t let the bastards get you down.

Why not? Because we can repeal it.

As National Review’s editors explain (and see also the strong Wall Street Journaleditorial this morning), this legislation “will increase taxes, increase premiums, and increase debt, while decreasing economic growth, job growth, and the quality of health care.” So it will–if it is allowed to go into effect.

Luckily, key parts of Obamacare–especially the subsidies–don’t go into effect until 2014. So what Republicans have to do is to make the 2010 and the 2012 elections referenda on Obamacare, win those elections, and then repeal Obamacare.

Of course that can’t be the whole message in 2010 and 2012. Of course there will be other important issues. And even on this issue, the message will have to be not just repeal but also replace–replace Obamacare with sensible reforms. What’s more, working out exactly how to repeal and replace the parts of the legislation that will already be in effect is an important task, one to which I know Paul Ryan has already given some thought.

But the details of the replacing and reforming are secondary. Repeal is the heart of the matter. It should be the heart of the message. Think of it this way: This year Obama has handed Republicans a one-item Contract with America, an item a majority of the public supports–opposition to, and therefore repeal of, Obamacare.

Barack Obama was able to muscle his health care plan through, and therefore avoided a legislative defeat that Sen. Jim DeMint had said would be his Waterloo. But Waterloo was always an imperfect analogy. Leaving aside the injustice to Napoleon of comparing Obama to him, the better analogy is Borodino.

RenewAmerica is a grassroots organization that supports the self-evident truths found in the Declaration of Independence, and their faithful application through upholding the U.S. Constitution, as written. Its purpose, therefore, is to thoughtfully and courageously advance the cause of our nation’s Founders. The organization is for ALL people who consider themselves loyal Americans. It has no philosophy, image, or agenda beyond this one unifying premise: America must return to its founding principles if it is to survive.RenewAmerica is thus nonpartisan and nondenominational. Because RenewAmerica is GRASSROOTS at heart, it remains fundamentally independent, creative, and energetic in pursuing its distinctive agenda in the cause of strengthening America. We welcome your creative energy in this vital cause. Please join with us. We need your strength.

He was watching some show on TV, a kid show but I don’t know which one. Anyway, the characters were doing something, a piñata I think. One of them broke it, and the other characters scattered to grab the prizes. My son, the capitalist, commented, “Why should the rest of them get anything? They didn’t do anything to deserve all that stuff.”

Now, he’s never been to a piñata party so he doesn’t understand how it’s played – one day he will understand so I’m not worried about that. The thing that pleased me so much was the fact that he grasped the concept of a hand-out and it offended him. In his mind, the one that broke the piñata should have gotten the prizes because he’d done the work to earn them, and the other characters had no right to just run up and take everything from him. It offended his sensibilities that others simply took what they hadn’t earned. For a kid who’s never had to earn much of anything, this amazes me. The most he’s ever had to earn was a new game for the game system, and he had to earn it by trying new foods, not by cleaning his room or anything like that. Hopefully, in a dozen years or so this will translate into him not calling home every month from college asking for more money, but simply to say hi. 😉

One of the things that pleases me most about this is that we don’t sit around talking politics all the time in our home for him to pick up on this kind of thing. It’s just his nature. 😀